Cable at 1.6520 is a little firmer from where it closed out Tuesday in North America, namely around 1.6490.
The NIESR has heralded the end of the recession in the UK and that will have lent a little underpinning to the pairing. The overnight release of Nationwide consumer confidence for August will also have been a plus, showing as it did a rise to 63 from a revised July read of 61. It’s the highest read in 15 months.
Despite the above, there will still be some caution ahead of tomorrows BOE rate decision. While the general feeling is that rates and QE will be left on hold, traders still remember the surprise increase in QE last time round.
There’s a saying; “F… me once, shame on you, f… me twice, shame on me.”
Funnily enough, as I mentioned late last night, blurb I get from a major Swiss bank has them calling for an additional £25 bln QE tomorrow. That would be a big surprise and would most probably hit sterling hard. That said, I favour no move, but you’ve be warned.
For today, technical support 1.6490/95, resistance at 1.6545/50 and 1.6565
Some data due;
08:30 GMT: UK visible trade for July expected -6250, non-EU -3450, total trade -2000
09:30 GMT: UK BRC shop price index for August.
